Some Vice Presidential Trivia

I'm posting the next Presidents post tomorrow, but to warm you up, here's something fun I learned today. Before the 25th Amendment in 1967, there was no mechanism to replace a Vice President. The office of Vice President was created to fill the President's seat, but due to a few varied circumstances, the Vice Presidency was left vacant 16 times before anyone thought to come up with a system to fill the seat. Keep in mind, in all 16 of these situations the Vice Presidency was left open until the next election

8 Presidents Died in Office

John Tyler ascended after President Harrison died of pneumonia, leaving the office open just shy of 4 years.

Milllard Fillmore ascended after President Taylor died of some sort of stomach thing, leaving the office open nearly 3 1/2 years.

Andrew Johnson ascended after President Lincoln's assassination, leaving the office open almost 4 years.

Chester Arthur ascended after President Garfield's assassination, leaving the office open about 3 1/2 years.

Teddy Roosevelt ascended after President McKinley's assassination, leaving the office open about 3 1/2 years.

Calvin Coolidge ascended after President Harding died, most likely from being poisoned by his wife, leaving the office open about a year and a half.

Harry Truman ascended after President Roosevelt died of polio, leaving the office open a bit under 4 years.

Lyndon Johnson ascended after President Kennedy's assassination, leaving the office open just over a year.

7 Vice Presidents Died in Office

President Madison had two Vice President's die, George Clinton (old age) and Elbridge Gerry (heart failure), leaving the office open just under a year and just shy of 2 1/2 years, respectively.

President Pierce's Vice President William King died of tuberculosis, leaving the office open almost 4 years.

President Grant's Vice President Henry Wilson died from his second stroke, leaving the office open about a year and a half.

President Cleveland's Vice President Thomas Hendricks died in his sleep, leaving the office open just under 3 1/2 years.

Presiden't McKinley's first Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving the office open about a year and a half until Teddy Roosevelt replaced him after the 1900 election.

President Taft's Vice President James Sherman died from kidney trouble right before the 1912 election, leaving the office open just over 4 months.

1 Vice President Resigned in Protest

John C. Calhoun resigned when he found out Andrew Jackson chose Martin Van Buren as his 1832 running mate, leaving the office open just over 3 months.

For those of you keeping track, between 1789 and 1967, we were without a Vice President roughly 40 total years before anyone thought to do anything about it. Go America!